ABBEVILLE - If you were to ask Abbeville head coach Larry Breaux if he had a monkey on his back after three straight losses, he would very quickly tell you “No.”

He did, however, say that it was “more like getting King Kong off your back.”

The reason for such relief? Abbeville picked up their first win in the district opener against Franklin, 44-22. It was also Homecoming.

“We picked up a big win,” Breaux said. “The boys had a good game.”

Having a thoroughly good game in particular was running back Buck Morris, who came away with 167 yards in 22 runs, and two of those runs were for touch- downs. “Buck started for us his freshman year, started this year as just a sophomore and I think he picked up a lot of confidence.”

Breaux referred to the Franklin game as Morris’ “breakout” game. “I think what happened is Patrick [Landry] really stood out as a top running back in the parish and people started keying in on him,” Breaux explained. “They didn’t realize that we had two good running backs.”

Landry, meanwhile, has been banged up, with Breaux taking him out of practice this week as a precaution. However, Landry told Breaux and other staff that he “felt great,” and judging from his 38-yard touchdown run with 3:29 left in the game, he meant it.

Franklin, meanwhile, suffered from a lot of penalties and a defense that let Morris, Landry and quarterback Ross Duhon through several times.

Duhon was 2-4 in passing for 5 yards, but in terms of rushing, he had a big game as well. He ran 12 times for 73 yards, scoring twice.

Abbeville’s defense had its ups and downs. On one hand, you have two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. However, there were some moments where, according to Breaux, the team just lost focus.

One of those moments was a fake punt return for a touchdown.

“That really blew my mind. We weren’t even in a punt return. We told them to just play regular defense,” Breaux said. “We gave up a 60 yard touchdown that way.”

However, some changes in the offense and defense just after halftime seemed to make all the difference. The Wildcats, overall, had a great defensive performance, keeping Franklin, who averaged about 35 points a game to just 22.

“We made a few adjustments,” Breaux said. “I also had to remind them at halftime that last year we were up by ten points at halftime against Franklin and we lost.” Whatever it was, Wildcats sealed the game with several touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

It was one of the best performances of the year for Abbeville, who went 1-9 last year. The Wildcats came away with only a win against Berwick in 2011. With last night’s performance and the way district is shaping up, it could be a whole different story for the team this year.

Abbeville travels this week, but not too far, as they head to Kaplan to take on the recently victorious Pirates.